GCC Students for Liberty

By Abhilash Samuel

Private property, free enterprise, free market principles are principles that might sound routine to most Americans. However, the third world often receives this jargon with hostility. Nevertheless, as a resident of the third world for twenty-one years, I feel, putting these principles into practice could be revolutionary in the least.

Today, America, takes these virtues for granted. While the third world might not have an excuse in rejecting something they have not tried, this nation should abhor anything that drives it away from the very base which made it an economic powerhouse.

Most third world countries are mixed economies. The concept of a mixed economy is, in itself, hypocritical. While the government has control over some aspects of the economy, it does not assume complete control of the economy. A closer look, however, shows that these countries have not progressed to the levels they aspire to reach. India's per capita GDP in 1980 was $231, in the year 2000 it had gone up to $450. In comparison, the United States had a per capita GDP of $19,364 in the year 1980 and in the year 2000 it was close to $30,000. This is certainly evidence enough that countries like India are lagging behind even more than they did twenty years ago.

The problem of development is certainly not addressed at the root. Frankly speaking, this problem is overlooked. Expansion and development in these countries can only take place through the division of labor, the right to private property and entrepreneurship. As long as these principles are overlooked, third world countries will remain stagnant.

A country like America should be proud to be prominent advocates of these principles. Nevertheless, a neglect of these valuable tenets can lead even a country such as America to ruin.

Tags: free market solution to the third world, mixed economies, third world economic problems, Third world economies